Through Uncharted Space: A Phoenix Adventures Sci-fi Romance (22 page)

Before she could talk herself out of it, she released his hand, rounded the pillar, and sauntered out into the temple.

***

Dammit to hell
. Dare watched Dakota stride across the temple. He stayed back behind the pillar, out of sight. He controlled his urge to rush after her…barely.

“Korrdo, I see you finally bumbled your way here to join the party,” Dakota drawled.

Korrdo whipped around. The man’s gaze moved past Dakota, searching the rest of the temple.

“I’m alone. I finally ditched the Phoenixes. Stars, they were such bores.”

Korrdo smiled. “Yes, there’s no way you’d share the treasure with anybody, is there, Dakota?”

She ran a hand through her hair, moving her fingers through the tangles. “That’s right. You know me so well, Korrdo.”

“So, you’re stuck here…alone.”

“I always have a plan, Korrdo. You should know that by now.” She gave a nonchalant shrug. “Well, I may have had a slight problem with my sub. It malfunctioned.”

She was moving slowly through the temple, brushing past Korrdo’s men, pausing to look at the treasure. Dare realized she was studying each of the men, assessing strengths and weaknesses.

Damn, he loved her. Every wild inch of her.

Now, they just needed to get out of the temple alive.

Dare looked around. He needed a weapon. There was no way he could take on Korrdo and his men without one.

He knelt and patted down Korrdo’s man. In one of the man’s pockets, he found a stun baton.

Hmm, probably the one that Korrdo had used on him back on Sulla. He shook the baton, and extended it. He worried that if it had been in the water, there was a chance it might short-circuit. He tested its weight in his hand. Still, even without a stun, it was heavy enough to do damage.

Dare ducked down and crept along a low row of altar tables. He saw Dakota go up the steps to Korrdo. The man reached out and gripped the ends of her hair, pulling her close. She leaned into him and, for a second, Dare thought she looked like she was enjoying it. His jaw clenched so hard he was surprised it didn’t crack.

“Come with me,” Korrdo said. “Be mine.”

Dakota reached out and fiddled with the front of his suit. “In return for what?”

“Share my bed, and you can even keep some of the treasure. But really, you won’t need it. I’ll give you everything you need.”

She tilted her head. “And you’ll decide what I need?”

“Of course.”

“So you’ll cage me. Force me to follow your rules, and then give me little trinkets when I’m a good girl. You’ll turn me into a whore.” She tapped her chin. “No, thanks.”

For a second, Korrdo’s face was a comical mix of confusion and anger.

Then Dakota reared back, lifted her leg, and kneed him between his thighs. As he doubled over with a groan of agony, she reached over him and slid his laser out of his holster. She spun, and started shooting.

She raced back down the steps, then crouched low, rolled under an altar table and came up on the other side.

Dare rushed forward, swinging at the Golden Nova man closest to him. He slammed the stun baton under the man’s chin and stunned him. He fell in a jittering pile.

Dakota was still shooting, and more Golden Nova goons fell with a chorus of shouts and groans.

Two more guys rushed at them, and Dare attacked. He smacked the wrist of another one, snapping bones, making him drop his gun. The man fell back with a cry.

Dare shoved the end of the baton into the next man’s gut and stunned him.

“Get them,” Korrdo bellowed.

Chaos ensued. More people were running toward them, more lasers were being fired.

Dare saw Dakota scrambling past on her hands and knees, staying in cover as laser fire whizzed around them. He dived, tackled her, and together, they rolled behind a set of steps.

“Never a dull moment with you,” he said.

She winked at him. “Just the way you like it.”

Suddenly, Dare heard another sound. He saw Dakota frown.

It was the sound of crumbling rock.

They poked their heads up and saw that some of the laser fire had hit one of the giant temple pillars.

It had cracked near the base and was now slowly tumbling over.

Dare and Dakota watched as the pillar fell and smacked into the side of the golden dome. It had to be strong enough to withstand that. Dare stared hard at the glass.

He released a breath. It looked fine, everything seemed to be okay.

Then, a spiderweb of cracks appeared on one large panel of the dome. They snaked outward, like cracking ice on a frozen lake.

He and Dakota froze.

“Oh no,” she murmured.

The next second, a hunk of golden glass fell with a crash to the floor, and sea water started pouring in.

***

Dakota struggled through the knee-deep water. The dome was filling up fast. She already saw various bits of treasure floating around them. Korrdo and his men were shooting, but it was sporadic now, as they turned their attention to the new problem.

As the water reached her thighs, she started to really get worried. She had no desire to drown again today.

Suddenly, Dare leaped up onto the base of the broken pillar. He reached down and she gripped his hand. He pulled her up beside him.

She looked over, and saw that Korrdo and his few remaining men were rushing out of the temple with their bags full of treasure.

“We can’t let them take the treasure!” she said.

“I’m wondering where the hell Ry and Justyn are.” Dare’s face was grim.

“They aren’t answering on the comm line?”

Dare shook his head.

Stars, she hoped Korrdo hadn’t caught them before entering the temple. “How can we stop Korrdo?”

Dare was eyeing the large hole in the dome, not too far away. She followed his gaze, and not far beyond, she could see what had to be Korrdo’s sub tethered outside the dome. It wasn’t that different from what they’d come down in.

An idea formed. “We could swim out to Korrdo’s craft. It isn’t far. Leave that scumbag stuck down here.”

He stared at her. “If we do that, we’d have to leave the treasure.”

“I know. But at least he can’t get away with it.” She blew out a breath. “Damn, doing the right thing really, really sucks.”

Dare reached for her, his lips touching hers gently.

She gripped his shirt. “This is why I tried to stay alone,” she said. “To not care about anything, or anyone.”

She felt water wash over her feet. The temple was filling up rapidly.

“No one really wants to be alone,” Dare said. “I was alone even while I was surrounded by my brothers, my sister-in-law, my colleagues. I controlled everything in my life so that no one would get close to me. Until a certain independent, smartass, scam artist burst into my life.”

Dakota fought a tangle of wild emotions in her chest. “And tried to steal your escape pod and shuttle, and knocked you out.”

He smiled. “Yeah.”

The water touched her knees. “Dare, I don’t know how to say the words. I don’t know how to tell you how you make me feel.”

He cupped her cheeks. “I’ve never said them to a woman, either. But I know you’ve shaken up my life and made me feel, made me lose some control. You’ve made me better. I love you, Dakota.”

She sucked in a deep breath, feeling a little lightheaded. This was scarier than their current predicament and the threat of drowning. “I love you, too.” The words came out in a rush. He leaned down and kissed her again.

Suddenly, a hand reached up out of the water and snagged Dakota’s ankle. With a violent yank, she was pulled off the top of the pillar and into the water. She landed with a splash.

“You’ve ruined everything.” Korrdo’s wild and angry face appeared in front of her.

He grabbed Dakota, and shoved her down under the water. As the water closed over her head, she fought and struggled. Feeling the water trickling into her mouth reminded her of her earlier experience. She kicked harder. She really didn’t want to relive it, and she didn’t want Dare to have to relive it, either.

Korrdo yanked her back up. “You’re going to die here, you lying bitch.”

As he tried to shove her under again, she saw Dare dive into the water. Korrdo thrust her down, and this time, she didn’t struggle. Instead, she watched calmly as Dare powered through the water and grabbed Korrdo.

She popped above the water again and grabbed on to the pillar, trying to catch her breath. She watched as Dare and Korrdo struggled and splashed in the water. One minute, they both disappeared beneath the surface, and the next, they bobbed back up, trading punches, before sinking under again.

She waited, and waited.

They didn’t reappear.

Where was he?

“Dare!”

Suddenly, one dark head popped back up.

Her heart clenched. It was Korrdo. He lifted something—his laser pistol—and pointed it at her.

Chapter Eighteen

Dare saw Korrdo aiming his weapon, and he powered through the water. He
had
to get to Dakota.

As he broke the surface, he saw the burst of laser fire. He grabbed Dakota and yanked her to the side.

The laser hit the pillar behind them, rock chips exploding into the air.

That was when he spotted blood in the water. He looked up and saw that Dakota’s shoulder was bleeding.

“It isn’t bad,” she said quickly, slapping one hand over the wound.

“Time to end this,” Korrdo shouted.

Fuck
. Dare spun, pushing Dakota behind him. Of course, she was struggling to move out from behind him.

Korrdo leveled the laser pistol on them.

Suddenly, above them, Dare heard more glass shattering. He looked up and saw two bodies falling straight down, with the waterfall pouring in from outside.

The bodies slammed down into the water, landing on top of Korrdo. The two newcomers were wearing envirosuits.

Rynan and Justyn.

Ry grabbed Korrdo and pulled the man under the water. Ry was treading water, and holding Korrdo down. Bubbles and splashes churned the water.

Dare pulled Dakota closer, and watched impassively as the bubbles died away.

When Ry released the man, his body rose up, floating facedown in the water.

“We sabotaged Korrdo’s sub.” Justyn held up a small component. “His guys are out there, turning around in circles, not sure what to do.”

“How are we going to get out of here?” Dare asked. He spied a basket of delicate gold jewelry bobbing past.

“I can get Korrdo’s sub going again,” Justyn said.

“Whole lot of Golden Nova guys between us and it.”

“Let’s start by getting out of this temple,” Dakota suggested. “Maybe we can take down the rest of the Golden Nova men and get to the sub.”

It was a long shot. There were still more Golden Nova goons, so they were outnumbered. And the dome was rapidly filling with water.

They’d just started to move, when Dare spied movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned just in time, to see Korrdo rear up out of the water.

Korrdo lifted his laser pistol and fired. Dare spun to cover Dakota, just as another body leaped in front of them.

Rynan!

The laser hit his brother in the head, and Ry hit the water with a splash.

Justyn and Dare shot forward. Dare landed a hard punch against Korrdo’s face.

“Maxir and Golden Nova do not accept failure.” Korrdo held the weapon to his temple, and pulled the trigger.

One shot, and he was dead.

Dare cursed, and then spun to swim back toward Dakota and Ry. She was holding his unconscious brother’s head in her arms, keeping him above water.

“Ry?” Dare reached them, turning Rynan’s head to the side. There was a deep, bloody groove carved in the side of Ry’s scalp. Dare’s jaw locked. It was bad.

“He’s unconscious,” Dakota said. “There’s nothing we can do for him right now.”

“Yeah.” Dare reached out, and wrapped his arm around Dakota.

Justyn was treading water nearby, his face grim.

“Maybe the treasure is cursed,” Dakota said. She stared at all the chaos around her, and the rising water. “All of this stuff doesn’t really seem so valuable now.”

No, it didn’t. Not with certain death breathing down on them, and Rynan badly hurt.

Dakota pressed into Dare. “It took me a while, but I finally worked out what the real treasure is.” She tilted her face up to his.

Damn, how could he feel helpless and jubilant all at once. He pressed his mouth to hers.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of blinding light.

***

Dakota turned, and saw a bright shimmer filtering down over the broken dome.

It began at the peak, and then fell like a sparkling waterfall of gold. As it reached the cracked and broken parts of the dome, the water around them started to recede, going back
out
of the dome like it was being sucked out.

Dakota’s mouth fell open.
What the hell was going on?

Dare’s arm tightened on her, and together, they watched as people swam in through the hole in the glass. None of them were wearing envirosuits.

The water level continued to lower, and soon her feet touched the ground. There were only puddles left on the ground. She looked up and saw that the golden shimmer had covered the hole and was keeping the ocean out.

The people circled them. They were all blue-skinned Maronians. Dakota saw the woman in the lead was Chancellor Tsani, and standing beside her was Ralu, from the proto-planet, and the scholar, Asun.

Tsani smiled. “You found it.”

Dakota looked around the temple. Or what was left of it. “I know you tried to stop us. Uh, we didn’t intend for it to be desecrated like this.”

Tsani looked down at the dead bodies of the Golden Nova gang resting on the floor. “I don’t think you’re entirely to blame.”

“Perhaps not, but I am sorry,” Dakota said. “Korrdo—part of the despicable Golden Nova—followed us here.”

“There are always those who will do terrible things for treasure. Our ancestors, the descendants of Captain Fisher, knew that. When the
Southwind
crashed here, the native, sea-swelling Maronians rescued them before the
Southwind
sank into the Abyss. Terrans and Maronians lived together, loved, become one, and they decided to keep the temple and its treasures hidden away. We have long believed it was the wrong decision. This is our history.” She waved her slender hand at the treasures littered around. “This must be enjoyed, revered, learned from.”